an indian courthouse investigates reports of unusual suspects ghosts

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An Indian courthouse investigatesreports of unusual suspects: Ghosts

Over the last year, employees at the Karkardooma Court in

East Ne !elhi have "ecome convinced the place is haunted# $he local "ar association

installed closed%circuit television cameras to try &nd out hat as going on# 'Annie

Goen($he )ashington *ost+

y Annie GoenOcto"er -.

Over the past year, some unusual events have occurred at a courthouse in eastern New

Delhi. Books have disappeared, strange noises have been heard. Computers and lights

have seemed to switch on by themselves.

Employees at Karkardooma District Court began wondering whether the comple was
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indian-bar-association-installs-hidden-cameras-to-catch-courthouse-ghost/2014/10/30/f54a2c32-5945-11e4-9d6c-756a229d8b18_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indian-bar-association-installs-hidden-cameras-to-catch-courthouse-ghost/2014/10/30/f54a2c32-5945-11e4-9d6c-756a229d8b18_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/people/annie-gowenhttp://a4166fc5c8de2e956be1-35bf222e249f267a2d3dc4447ed58798.r20.cf3.rackcdn.com/washingtonpost.jpghttp://www.washingtonpost.com/people/annie-gowenhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indian-bar-association-installs-hidden-cameras-to-catch-courthouse-ghost/2014/10/30/f54a2c32-5945-11e4-9d6c-756a229d8b18_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indian-bar-association-installs-hidden-cameras-to-catch-courthouse-ghost/2014/10/30/f54a2c32-5945-11e4-9d6c-756a229d8b18_story.html



haunted. Eventually, the eecutive committee o! the local bar association called a

meeting, mulled over the evidence and decided to install closed"circuit television

cameras to !ind out what was going on.

#e were primarily concerned because we thought somebody was stealing books,$ said%aman &harma, 'oint secretary o! the &hahdara Bar (ssociation. But they were unsure

whether the culprit was human or otherworldly.

)n opening its investigation, the bar association 'oined a long list o! authorities that

have taken seriously complaints o! paranormal activity in )ndia, a country said to live

in several centuries at once.

*ast year, !or eample, a police station in the central )ndian state o! +adhya radesh

wasshuttereda!ter a -resident spirit$ terroried the beat constable on duty, according

to a report in the /imes o! )ndia. ( state lawmaker demanded an in0uiry. Elsewhere, a

primary school was closed temporarilywhen a boy said he saw an egg"shaped ghost

emanating !rom a chalkboard.

Object1
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Ghost-wants-clean-cops-police-station-locked-up-for-6-months/articleshow/19421926.cmshttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Ghost-wants-clean-cops-police-station-locked-up-for-6-months/articleshow/19421926.cmshttp://archive.indianexpress.com/news/-ghost--forces-kondhwa-school-to-shut/761294/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Ghost-wants-clean-cops-police-station-locked-up-for-6-months/articleshow/19421926.cmshttp://archive.indianexpress.com/news/-ghost--forces-kondhwa-school-to-shut/761294/



&ta!! members o! a courthouse in Delhi said they !ound their computers turned on in

the morning even though they shut them down be!ore leaving o!!ice the previous

morning. 12usu! (nsari32ou/ube4

olice regularly investigate complaints about alleged supernatural events. -#eentertain all complaints, be it against ombies or werewolves,$ a police o!!icer told the

/imes earlier this year, re!erring to another paranormal matter.

5antastical tales 6 o! levitating holy men, !irewalkers, con'urers, religious statues

seeping sa!!ron water 6 are not uncommon in )ndia, an ancient culture in which the

line between superstition and belie! is o!ten blurred.

/his is how everyone in )ndia is brought up 6 listening to ghost stories,$ said &ushil

&harma, a lawyer who has worked in the courthouse since 7898.

New Delhi, the country:s sprawling capital and home to 7; million people, is known as

the -city o! 'inns,$a re!erence to genies !rom the )slamic tradition still said to inhabit

the city:s shrines and graveyards. News o! the courthouse haunting, thus, -will bring

relie! to people who !eared Delhi:s age"old d'inns and spirits are being driven away by

the process o! gentri!ication,$ the news #eb site &croll noteddrolly.

But there:s a darker side to such belie!s. )n tribal areas o! eastern )ndia, women

are still accused o! being witches. Blamed !or everything !rom crop !ailure to in!ertility,

the accused are o!ten beaten and sometimes killed.



#e:ve got a country with a 7;th"century mindset superimposed on the >7st century,$

groused Narendra Nayak, president o! the 5ederation o! )ndian %ationalist

(ssociations. -eople will use their mobile phones to view ghosts, and we will do a pu'a

?prayer ritual@ be!ore sending a spacecra!t to +ars. *ots o! cultures have learned to get

over these things and be more rational in their approach, but we haven:t. /hat:s the

tragedy o! this country.$

/he bar association:s grainy, dim surveillance video had plenty to satis!y believers 6

!loating white orbs, !lickering computer screens 6 and much to raise doubt.

)t was 'ust a virus,$ lawyer +adan *al Karkar said /uesday while sitting in the small

cyber library seen in the video. Karkar was playing computer chess, but in general, theroom is used in!re0uently now. /he )nternet isn:t working.

/he library is in one o! several concrete buildings with open"air corridors that during

daylight hours are !illed with witnesses, suspects, lawyers in their customary black

'ackets and banded collars 6 a holdover !rom the British %a' 6 and an occasional stray

dog. /o say the place is dusty would be an understatement. iles the sie o! large

anthills clutter stairwells. lastic sleeves protect legal volumes.

#hen &harma heard about the surveillance cameras, he !elt somewhat vindicated, he

said. 5or years he has been saying that supernatural activity is occurring at the

courthouse 6 ever since he and a colleague were returning to their chambers late one

evening and heard loud knocking and saw a padlock swinging wildly back and !orth,

seemingly on its own. /hese days, he makes sure to leave work be!ore night!all.

) was !ully conscious. ):m not a drug addict, ):m a lawyer,$ &harma said. -) believe

something is happening here. #e should talk about it.$

/he bar association said it plans to leave the spirit alone !or now, until the publicity

dies down.



)t was getting late. Darkness gathered. ( curl o! moon rose. )t was time !or &harma to

go home. No ghosts seemed to be in evidence. ( colleague who had started happy hour

early began singing drunkenly in his chambers. /he sound echoed eerily throughout

the emptying comple and !loated down to the busy street.

=alees (ndrabi contributed to this report.

Annie Goen is $he *ost/s India "ureau chief and hasreported for the *ost throughout 0outh Asia and the 1iddle East#

osted by /havam
http://www.blogger.com/profile/01338571660162781025http://www.blogger.com/profile/01338571660162781025

an indian courthouse investigates reports of unusual suspects ghosts

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